Apparatus for separating fiber



S. V. I.. LIPPITT.

APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING FIBER APPLICATION FILED FEB. 2. Ism.

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APPLICATION FIILED FEIB. 2l L91?.

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lPatented Jeni.l 6, 1920.'

s. v. L. LIPPHT;

APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING FIBER.

APFLICATKON FILED FEB-2.1917.

1,327,484. Patented Jan. 6,1920.

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Hmlullilillm AUM ummm SARGENT V. L. LIPPITT, OF SAN JUAN, PORTO RICO.

APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING FIBER.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. e, 1920.

Application filed February 2, 1917. Serial No. 146,071.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SARGENT V. L. LIP- rrr'r, of San Juan, in the county of San Juan, and in the State of Porto Rico, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Apparatus for Separating Fiber, and do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates particularly to an apparatus designed for separating fiber from raw materials containing the same, so as to produce fiber suitable for mats, carpets, coir yarn, substitutes for horse hair and cow hair for upholstering purposes, and as a binding material for plaster, etc., but especially the separation of cocoanut fiber from cocoanut husks.

The object of my invention is to provide a process for obtaining ber of the above character in an advantageous manner, and preferably without the application of water to the raw materials from which the ber is obtained. A further object of my invention is to obtain an improved quality of ber having a maximum degree of strength and elasticity without the application of moist materials, chemical substances, etc. Further objects of my invention will appear from the detailed description thereof contained hereinafter.

Vhile my invention is capable of embodiment in many dierent forms, for the purpose of illustration I have shown only one form thereof in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of an apparatus made in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the upper shredder rolls; and

Fig. 3 is a similar view of the lower shredder rolls.

In the drawings I have shown a hopper 1 adapted to receive cocoanut husks and deliver the same to a pair of corrugated vor grooved crusher rolls 2 and 3, having meshing teeth 4. These crusher rolls 2 and 3 are carried by shafts 5 and 6 and journaled in a framework 7, which is arranged to support the remaining parts of the apparatus. The shafts 5 and 6 are provided respectively with pulleys 8 and 9 connected by a crossed belt 10 so as to drive the shaft 5 from the shaft 6. The shaft 6 carries a large gear 11 which meshes with a gear 12 on a shaft 13 located on the frame 7, said shaft 13 being provided with a pulley 14 driven by a belt 15 from a pulley 16 on a driving shaft 17 supported by a framework 7. The husks fed to the rolls 2 and 3 are crushed thereby so that the outside, hard, fibrous shells of the husks are broken, leaving the inner fibrous portions soft and limp. The crushed husks are then discharged from the rolls 2 and 3 into a hopper' 18, arranged to feed the same between a pair of shredder rolls 19 and 20, carried by shafts 21 and 22 on the framework 7. The rolls 19 and 20 are provided with long, slim teeth 23 on their peripheries, set approximately 19,- inches apart and in such a manner that they will not interfere with one another in the rotation of the rolls 19 and 20, which have different speeds. These teeth23 overlap one another on the two rolls 19 and 20 so that the ends of the teeth are separated from the adjacent peripheries of the rolls from i; of an inch to of an inch. The diEerence in speed between the two rolls 19 and 20 is ob` tained by providing on the shaft 21 a pulley 24, connected by a crossed belt 25 to a pulley 26 on a shaft 27 supported in the frame` work 7, which shaft 27 has a gear 28 meshing with a larger gear 29 on the shaft 22. The shaft 21 is furthermore provided with a iy wheel 30. Power to drive the shafts 21 and 22 is obtained by means of a pulley 31 on the shaft 21 which is driven by a belt 32 leading from a pulley 33 on a shaft 34 supported in the framework 7. A shaft 34 and an adjacent shaft 35 are provided to support two additional high speed shredder` rolls 36 and 37, provided with long slim teeth 38. These rolls 36 and 37 are so arranged that the former moves at a much higher speed than the latter, and in order to accomplish this end the shaft 34 carries a large gear 39 which meshes with a smaller gear 40 on the shaft 35. Power for driving the shaft 35 is obtained by means of apulley 41 on said shaft,. having a -belt 42 which f work 7.

leads from a pulley 43 on a shaft 44 of an electric motor 45. Adjacent to the roll 37 there is a toothed cleaning and feeding roll 46, supported on a shaft 47 in the framework 7, which carries a pulley 48 connected by a belt 49 to a pulley 50 on the shaft 35. This roll 46 acts to clean the roll 37, and has other functions to be hereinafter mentioned. The rolls 19 and 20,36 and 37 act in such a manner as to shred the husks and pulverize the pollen so as to separate the same from the fiber in the husks. The rolls 36 and 37 also act so as to provide a strong current of air to throw the fine shreds of ber and the pollen against a screen 51, carried by a pivot 52 on the frame 7 and adapted to be shaken continuouslv by an eccentric 53 on a shaft 54 supported on the framework 7, which shaft 54 is driven by a pulley 55 having a belt 56 leading to a shaft 57 on the frame 7 which is driven by means of a pulley 58, connected by a belt 59 to a pulley 60 on the shaft 34. The pollen passes through the screen 51 to a discharge chute 61, and the fiber is received by a conveyer and extractor belt 62 running from a roller 63 carried by the shaft 57, and a roller 64 carried by a shaft 65 on the frame 7. The conveyer belt 62 is constructed with fine, steel, wire teeth 66 set very close together and projecting approximately of an inch outwardly from the face of a band 67 forming the base of the conveyer belt 62. This conveyer belt 62 passes upwardly adjacent to a set of steel brushes 68 having wire teeth 69 to strip the remaining pulp from the fiber. The fiber carried upwardly from the end of belt 62 is discharged onto a comber Wheel 70 carried by a shaft 71 on the frame 7, which is driven by a pulley 72 connected by a belt 73 to a pulley 74 on the shaft 17. This comber wheel 70 has on its periphery a number of steel wire teeth 712L inserted in a base 72a of leather or rubber belting fastened to the face of the wheel. These steel teeth 71EL are arranged to coperate with a set of similar teeth 7 3a on a guard 7 4n which fits around the periphery of the comber wheel 70. In the guard 74a there is provided, however, an inlet opening 7 5, and in addition an outlet opening 76 which discharges to a conveyer belt 77 located on pulleys 78 and 79, carried by shafts 80 and 81 respectively, supported by the frame- The shaft 80 is driven by means of a pulley 82 connected by a crossed belt 83 to a pulley 84 on the shaft 71. The conveyer belt 77 delivers into a hopper 85 which discharges into a side aperture 86 of a willower and drier cylinder 87 carried by rollers 88 supported by the frame 7. The cylinder 87 has a gear 89 on its periphery, which meshes with a gear 90 on a shaft 91 supported by the frame 7, which gear 90 meshes with a gear 92 on the shaft 80. On the shaft 91 there is furthermore provided a pulley 93 having a belt 94, connected to pulley 95 which drives a shaft 96 supported on the frame 7, which shaft 96 carries a toothed cleaning and feeding roller 97 located in the opening 76 and coperating with the toothed surface of the comber wheel 7 0. The shaft 91 also carries a pulley 98 which is connected by a belt 99 to a shaft 100, which is provided with a plurality of blades 101 arranged to rotate in the cylin der 87 in a direction opposite to the rotation of said cylinder. fit the opposite side of the cylinder 87 to that in which the opening 86 is provided, there is located an inlet pipe 102 for heated compressed air, which is supplied by a blower 103 driven by the motor 45. The blower 103 has an air inlet pipe 104. If desired, the shaft 1'7 may be driven from the motor 45, and for this purpose there may be provided a pulley 105 on the shaft 44 connected by a crossed belt 106 to a pulley 107 0n a shaft 108 carried on the frame 7, which shaft 108 has a pulley 109 connected by a pulley 110 to a pulley 111 on the shaft 17.

In the operation of my invention, the cocoanut husks are introduced into the hopper 1 from which they are fed between the crusher rolls 2 and 3. The outside hard, fibrous shells of the husks are thus broken, leaving the interior portions soft and limp. The crushed husls are then discharged onto the shredder rolls 19 and 20, thus shredding the huslrs and pulverizing the pollen so as to separate the same from the fibers. This result is obtained in an advantageous manner owing to the fact that the roll 19 rotates at a much higher speed than the roll 20. From this point the shredded husls and partially separated pollen are fed between the rolls 36 and 37, where the materials are subjected to the final shredding operation. This result is obtained by the very high speed roll 37 coperating with the slow speed roll 36. These rolls, 36 and 37, have the function also of producing a strong current of air so as to drive the shredded husks with considerable force against the screen 51, where the pollen is removed from the fibrous materials and falls through the screen onto the discharge chute 61. This separation is facilitated by the vibration of the screen 51 due to the eccentric 53. The discharge of the materials from the roll 37 is aided by the presence of the roll 46. The fibrous mate rials discharged from the screen 51 are received upon the conveyer belt 62, and are fed upwardly between the same and the roll 46 and from this point against the teeth of brushes 68,- thus stripping the remaining pulp from the fibers. The fibers are thereafter delivered onto the comber wheel 70 where they are subjected to a combing action against the teeth 7 3a of the guard 74a. The brous materials are discharged from the comber through the opening 76 with the aid of the cleaning and feeding roller 97,v so that said materials pass through the o ening 76 onto the conveyer belt 77, from w ich point the materials are conveyed upwardly to the hopper 85 and thence into the wi-llower and drier cylinder 87, the ber having been in this manner combed so as to remove all dust and pollen and leave the ber silky and soft. The cylinder 87 rotates in the opposite direction to the plurality of blades 101 therein, and while in the cylinder 87 the brous materials are subjected to a current of hot compressed air through the pipe 102 from the blower 103. The ber after having been treated in the willower and drier cylinder 87 will be found to be in a dry, soft, silky state, and is thus ready for delivery to a press or spinner for transportation or manufacture into any desired product.

While I have described my invention above in detail, I wish it to be understood that many changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:-d

1. An apparatus for separating ber having a shredder, a toothed belt to which it discharges, and a cleaning and feeding roll coperating with both the shredder and the belt.

2. An apparatus for separating ber having a shredder, a toothed belt to which it discharges, a brush coperating with the belt, and a cleaning and feeding roll coperating with both the shredder and the belt.

3. An apparatus for separating cocoanut fiber comprising crushing cylinders having engaging surfaces adapted to crush and break up the cocoanut husk, and rotatable shredding members moving at different speeds, said members being provided with interengaging pointed teeth, whereby the teeth of the faster moving member act to pierce and shred the short ber from the husk.

4. An apparatus for separating cocoanut ber comprising a pair of rotatable shredding members moving at different speeds, said members being provided with interengaging pointed teeth, whereby the teeth of the faster moving member act to pierce and shred the short ber from the husk.

5. An apparatus for separating cocoanut ber comprising a pair of rotatable shredding members moving at different speeds, said members being provided with interengaging pointed teeth, whereby the teeth of the faster moving member act to pierce and shred the short ber from the husk, and an vmembers of said rst mentioned pair.

6. An apparatus for separating cocoanut ber comprising a pair of rotatable shredding members moving at different speeds, said members being provided with interengaging pointed teeth, whereby the teeth of the faster moving member act to pierce and shred the short ber from the husk, a combing device, and a vibrating screen adjacent said shredding members arranged to discharge the dust and pollen from the material received from the shredding members, and deliver the ber to said combing device.

7. An apparatus for separating cocoanut ber comprising a pair of rotatable shredding members moving at dierent speeds, said members being provided with interengaging pointed teeth, whereby the teeth of the faster moving member act to pierce and shred the short ber from the husk, and a combing device and willower arranged to receive successively the material delivered by the shreddin members and means for circulating heate gas through said willower.

8. An apparatus for separating cocoanut ber, comprising crushing cylinders having engaging surfaces adapted to crush and break up the cocoanut husk, rotatable shredding members moving at different speeds, said members being provided with interengaging pointed teeth, whereby the teeth of the faster moving member act to pierce and shred the short ber from the husk, and a combing device arranged to receive the material delivered from said shredding members, said combing device comprising a traveling member and a stationary brush having coperating pointed teeth, and a willower receiving the ber delivered from said combing device.

9. yAn apparatus for separating cocoanut ber comprising a pair of rotatable shredding members moving at different speeds, said members being provided with interengaging pointed teeth, whereby the teeth of the faster moving member act to pierce and shred the short ber from the husk, a combing device receiving the ber from said shredding members, said combing device comprising a rotatable member and a brush having cooperating pointed teeth, a willower, and a traveling member having teeth arranged to pick up the ber from the combing device and deliver the same to s 'aid willower.

10. An apparatus for separating cocoanut ber comprising a pair of rotatable shredding members moving at different speeds, said members being provided with interengaging pointed teeth, whereby the teeth of the faster moving member act to pierce and shred the short ber from the husk, a oomband means for supplying heated gas to said ing device receiving the fiber from said WilloWer. 10 shredding members, said combing device In testimony that I claim the foregoing I comprising a rotatable member and a brush have hereunto set my hand.

having coperating pointed teeth, avvillower, SARGEN'I V. L. LIPPITT.` a traveling member having teeth arranged Witnesses: to pick up the ber from the combing de- CARLOS PESQUERA,

vice and deliver the same to said Willovver, L. CATUO. 

